FIRST TV SHOW IN LUMDING

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8th October, 2010: #4.54 pm

I was wandering through the memories of past. Particularly, one scene that I recalled now was an event took place when I was in the class VII, that was an event took place 24 years ago in 1987.



Lumding is a place surrounded by hills in a way that used to block the terrestrial transmission of television. For Lumdingians, television was beyond reach till 1987 due to non availability of terrestrial radio signal as signals were blocked by surrounding hills.



The nearest Television relay center was in Nagaon and Diphu and both were at substantial distances making the region around Lumding "a region bereft of television sets".






We got TV for the first, but still Delhi Doordarshan, the only tv channel of India was not available in our place through antenna. In 1986, during the football world cup Mexico'86 people of Lumding were not able to watch those wonderful matches which includes some of the best play of Legendary Maradona, and the whole world was celebrating the football skills of an hitherto unknown player, named Diego Armando Maradona. After some matches, few people of Lumding decided to search for a means to watch those matches. Some one in Guwahati told them that there is a way to get to watch tv even if there is no transmission through conventional tv tower. And for that they have to buy a special type of antenna called SHYAM antenna. (actually it is dish antenna, but those people were told by the company employees of SHYAM, which makes and sells dish antenna. Hence, everyone thought the name of the instrument is SHYAM ANTENNA). It was the exact things that those people were searching for. They had already smelled the commercial prospects of the antenna. More than 10,000 households were there in Lumding, hence if they try they could surely gather 100 families who will be ready to pay to watch TV. Remember in 1986 TV was an luxury commodity in Assam at least. Only few low power relay stations were there in major cities like Guwahati, Nagaon, Silchar, Dibrugarh etc. So, after all they came back to Lumding and told everyone about the possible means they came to know to watch Tv, more importantly Football World Cup and Maradona's unforgettable performances. Lumding is a Railway Township and in this railway cooperative society got involved for partial financing the project and thus the giant dish (then it was a very big dish not like modern DTH dishes like Tata Sky, Airtel or others) was brought and the first tv show was screened in Lumding Thana Field and it was the Mexico '86 football final. The match was unforgettable, the moment was unforgettable as it was the first tv show in Lumding.

POLITICAL SCENARIO & STUDENT ORGANISATION IN ASSAM

POLITICAL SCENARIO & STUDENT ORGANISATION:
16th March; 2011

Talk about students' politics in Assam and the first name that crops up in everybody's mind is All Assam Students' Union (Aasu) and the six-year agitation it led against illegal immigrants between 1979 and 1985. It's not only that Aasu went on to become a force to reckon with in every Assamese household, the struggle that it spearheaded is still considered one of the most vigorous mass movements in the country after 1947.

Despite the merciless butchery of over 2,000 Bengali-speaking Muslims in Nellie during the height of the Assam Agitation in 1983, Aasu managed to force the then state government to identify and expel the illegal migrants following the signing of Assam Accord in 1985. The students' union, finally, turned out to be the cradle of the largest regional party in the state, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), which swept the 1985 assembly elections and formed the government in Dispur.

Over two decades have passed since then, and Assam has seen several other students' organizations such as the All Bodo Students' Union (Absu), which launched the Bodoland movement, and the Assam Koch Rajbongshi Students Union (Akrsu) that is fighting for restoration of peace in the region. Besides, there are organizations like the All Adivasi Students' Association of Assam (Aasa) and the Assam Tea Tribes Students' Association (Attsa) fighting for Scheduled Tribe status for the communities that they represent.

However, the movements by ABSU, AKRSU, AASA and ATTSA have rarely reached the height of the Assam Agitation. The students of Assam once known for their active involvement in the state's socio-political domain are seemingly shying away from politics, to be more precise from politicians. And they blame the rising trend of vote-bank politics for this. Fed up with the "false promises" made by politicians irrespective of their political colours during every elections, they want voters to use their democratic power more wisely. Their message is loud and clear: "Don't vote for parties. Cast your ballots in favour of candidates who deserve to be in the corridors of power."

Flash floods in Assam, 30,000 affected

Incessant rains in parts of Assam and the upper reaches of neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh have caused flash floods in Sonitpur and Dhemaji districts, where nearly 30,000 people are affected. Continuous rains for the last two days in Sonitpur district's Tezpur subdivision inundated vast riverine areas and damaged standing crops at Dalabari, Besseria, Parbatia, Panchmile, Koroiyani and Rajbharal, official sources said today.


Fed by the rains in Arunachal Pradesh along its course, the Brahmaputra and its tributaries were risingalarmingly towards the danger level in the district. Rivers Jiabhorali at Khalihamari and Gabharu near NH-52 with other major tributaries were also rising.

 The overflowing waters of Brahmaputra and its branch rivers Borgang and Burigang submerged vast areas in Biswanath and Gohpur subdivisions, the sources said. Flooding the low-lying areas, the waters overtopped the National Highway linking Tezpur and North Lakhimpur at three places between Balipara and Gohpur.
In Dhemaji district, the rains caused river Subansiri's tributary Jiadhal to be in spate and flood adjoining areas in about 25 villages in west Dhemaji. The worst affected villages are Kesukhona, Nepalisuti and Rotua.


The situation in Dhemaji was compounded by breaching of a temporary mud dam for diverting water of the Subansiri built during construction of the Lower Subansiri Hydro Electric Power Project. The temporary dam regularly breaches during the rainy season when uprooted trees brought down by the Subansiri from Arunachal hit against it and demolish the bundh, the sources added.

LUMDING COLLEGE: AN INSTITUTION OF EDUCATION

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INTRODUCTION

Lumding College, located at Lumding in Nagaon District of Assam, is an affiliated college of Guwahati University. Established in August 1959, it is presently a grant-in-aid college. The campus area is 4.3 acres in a semi-urban setting. Fourteen undergraduate programmes of which eleven are taught at the honours level, are offered. Lumding is a small railway township surrounded by hills and villages primarily inhabited by cultivators and geographically separated from the nearest township by about 40 Km by dense forests. The college has been recognised in 1965 under 2f and in 1986 under 12b of the UGC Act. There are 48 permanent teachers, six temporary teachers and five part-time teachers, constituting a total of 61 teaching staff, the supporting staff number being 23. The number of students in the current academic year has been a total of 619 in undergraduate courses and 30 in self-financing courses. The unit cost of education including salary was Rs.12,719/- and the same excluding salary component was Rs.769/-. The temporal plan of academic work is annual system. The support services available in the college include Central Library, sports facilities, canteen and Grievance Redressal Cell.

The principal goal of the college has been to provide collegiate education to the youths of the locality at a low cost. Initially, the institution was started with courses in Arts. Within a few years of its starting, it began to provide Honours Courses in all the Arts subjects. Science courses were started in 1984. Commerce course was started in 1995.

The college volunteered to be assessed and accredited by submitting a Self Study Report to the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), Bangalore. In response to this request, the NAAC constituted a Peer Team consisting of Prof. M.C. Das, Former Vice-Chancellor, Sambalpur University, Orissa as Chairman; Prof. V.Balamohandas, Dept. of Commerce and Management Studies, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh as Member Co-ordinator and Prof. Swami Suparnananda, Principal, Ramakrishna Mission Residential College, Narendrapur, Kolkata, West Bengal as another Member. The Co-coordinating Officer from NAAC is Dr. K.N. Madhusudanan Pillai, Academic Consultant, NAAC, Bangalore. In the last minute on 23rd Sept, 2004, Prof. M.C.Das expressed his inability to join the Peer Team when the Member-Coordinator contacted him over phone from Calcutta Airport. The same thing was conveyed to the NAAC office immediately by the Member-Coordinator. Prof. V.Balamohandas has been asked to be the Chairman Coordinator. Dr. N.Pandey, Dept. of Geology, Nagaland University, Kohima,Nagaland has been appointed as another Member. The Peer Team visited the college for two days i.e. 24-25th September 2004.

The Peer Team carefully perused and analysed the Self Study Report sent by the institution. During the institutional visit, the Peer Team went through all the relevant supportive documents and papers submitted. The Peer Team visited all the academic departments and various facilities such as library, science labs, computer lab, sports and games facilities, etc. The Peer Team also had extensive interactive sessions with the Principal, the faculty, the students, non-teaching staff, parents, alumni and functionaries of the various associations and extension activity groups. The Peer Team has verified all the data, which throw light on the strengths, performance and achievements of different departments in its endeavor to make an overall assessment of the college on the basis of the seven criteria identified by the NAAC.



CURRICULAR ASPECTS

The college was taken under the grants-in-aid by the Government of Assam in 1972. As an affiliated college of Guwahati University, the college follows the course structure and the syllabi prescribed by the university for all its courses. The college cannot exercise any flexibility in terms of curricular aspects. The college offers courses in B.A., B.Sc., and B.Com. both in Pass and Honours courses. It also offers certificate courses in Computer Basics and Office Automation. The diploma courses offered include Diploma in Office Automation and Financial Accounting, Diploma in Computer Applications, Advanced Diploma in Computer Applications, Advanced Diploma in Computer Programming, and Post-Graduate Diploma in Computer Application. The Computer Diploma courses have been introduced with the support of CDAC. Some of the faculty members are invited by the University for curriculum designing at periodical intervals especially in the Department of Bengali, Department of Geology, Department of Political Science and the Department of English. The curriculum has often been found to be stereo-typed and does not cater to the future needs of the students. However, since this is an affiliated college, the view points of the teachers are not reflected totally in the curricula design.



TEACHING, LEARNING AND EVALUATION

Lumding College caters to the needs of mostly the local area. The students are admitted into various courses on the basis of their academic record at the qualifying examination. About 25 percent of the students admitted belong to scheduled caste category. One month after the admission, the students are made to appear a unit test conducted by the departments. The unit test helps the departments to sort out the students into educationally disadvantaged category, average students and advanced learners. Bridge/remedial courses are offered to the educationally disadvantaged students. The advanced learners are encouraged by special academic counseling and a provision of lending them more number of books from the library. The advanced learners are also allowed to use the computer and also the internet facility free of cost. The teachers are required to make a teaching plan and implement the same. The instruction in different subjects is imparted through four un-utilized schedules. A unit test is conducted at the end of the completion of each unit of syllabus. The traditional method of teaching is supplemented by tutorials, question - answer sessions, group discussions, etc.

The students are provided with the prospectus with all the required information. The number of working days of the college during the last year was 274. The number of teaching days were 227. 90 per cent of the classes are engaged by the full-time faculty. The recruitment of the teachers is done as per the guidelines of state government. The college has the freedom to make adhoc/temporary appointments of teachers for a period not exceeding 45 days at stretch as a rule.

The salaries of all the permanent teachers and all the supporting staff are paid by the Government. The temporary teachers are paid from the college funds. Students' feedback on their campus experience is collected. The monitoring committee analyses the feedback and takes appropriate measures wherever necessary. Occasionally, a few seminars are conducted by the college where in experts from outside Lumding are also invited to participate. A 'News - Corner' highlighting the current affairs is maintained under the aegis of a group of teachers and students. A thought for the day/week is selected and displayed in another corner with the objective of providing a strong positive direction to the young minds.



RESEARCH, CONSULTANCY AND EXTENSION

Of the total 59 teachers, four possess Ph.D. Degree and eight teachers possess M.Phil Degree. Besides, a few teachers have registered as part-time research scholars. Faculty members have a potential for further research that needs to be exploited. Research does not seem to be a significant activity of the college as of today. No consultancy service is undertaken by any of the faculty. On the extension services, the college has been active in and around the locality in collaboration with the local non-governmental organisation like Gharao, Pragati Mancha and Help. Medical camps providing free health checkup, blood group test camps, first aid camps, environment and health and hygiene awareness programmes, AIDS awareness programmes, etc. are held. Students also participate in adult literacy drive in rural areas. There is no NCC wing in the college. A teacher is designated as additional charge for extension services.



INFRASTURCTURE AND LEARNING RESOURCES

The college is located in an area of 4.5 acres. The total built up area is at present 3,241 Sq. Mtrs. The college does not have adequate resources of its own to meet the needs of augmenting the infrastructure. The Government does not provide funds for maintenance of the infrastructure.

An amount of Rs.160 per annum towards building fee and development fee is collected from all the students. The college occasionally seeks donations from teachers, students and outsiders to meet specific projects. A seven member committee of teachers is constituted for proper maintenance of the infrastructure. The building infrastructure is occasionally used by outside agencies like the Railway authorities, NGOs, etc. Attempts are made to keep the campus the clean. Use of plastic tea cups, etc., is prohibited in the campus.

The Library consists of 11,258 volumes and 20 periodicals. The total number of working days of the library during the last year was 274. Apart from this Central Library, a few departments have departmental libraries. The library is open for eight hours in a day. There is no central computer facility in the college. The Department of Physics has got two computers. The sports facilities are reasonably good with infrastructure facilities for football, volley ball, cricket, table tennis, caroms, badminton, chess etc. There is a provision of an incentive of Rs.300/- per annum for outstanding sports persons. However, the participation of students in sports at all levels is not encouraging. There is no hostel either for boys or girls.



STUDENTS SUPPORT AND PROGRESSION

The college faculty put in their efforts for the progression and betterment of their students. About 92 percent of the students appear for their final year examinations. The drop out rate is about 8 percent. Average pass percentage of the college varies in between 55 and 60. While there have been a few instances of top ranks in the past, the same trend could not be consistently maintained in the resent past. The college does not have any record of students progression to employment. The Alumni of the college occupy positions of prominence in different fields in Assam. The beneficiaries of scholarships during the last year include 40 students in SC category and 10 students for half fee. The college guides the students through a Carrier Guidance Cell. A teacher who is proficient in Entrepreneurship is in charge of this Cell. The college has an alumni association, which takes active interest in the annual celebrations of the Foundation Day of the college (14th August). It also actively participates in sports and cultural programmes. In the week-long celebration of the college Week, one day is exclusively meant for the alumni. The alumni association has donated Rs.1,20,000/- to the college in the years 2003 and 2004.



ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT

The overall administration of the college is taken care by a Governing Body, which is constituted by the Government of Assam. The Principal of the College is the Secretary of Governing Body. All the administrative decisions of the Governing Body are subject to the approval of the Director of Higher Education, Assam. Various Bodies and Committees are constituted with the faculty to monitor the different academic activities of the college. A Grievance Cell works with reference to teaching staff and non-teaching staff. However, there is no separate grievance cell to look into the ordinary grievances of the students. They are generally handled by the Principal of the College. No efforts are made to get financial support from various funding agencies such as UGC, Ministry of HRD, Ministry of Sports, etc. for special scheme and projects. The employees are eligible for a loan for a genuine cause from the college fund to a maximum of Rs.25,000/- at the prevailing bank rate of interest and repayable at 12 equal instalments. However, not many employees have been the beneficiaries of this facility in view of resource- crunch.

GATEWAY TO ASSAM : CHAGOLIA

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In the Inter State Assam-West Bengal Border, there are two splendid arches have been constructed to welcome all people to Assam, a land of Red Rivers and Blue mountains and an indeed an amazing amalgamation of tradition and culture, style and splendour, warmth and feelings, beauty and nature, comfort and convenience... virtually everything the modern tourist could expect, for the sooth of his thirst of natural beauty.

These two arches are situated at Chagolia (Assam) on 31(A) No. National Highway, 13 km away from Agomani, the head quarter of Agomani Development Block. One is on the west of the road and other is on the east. On top of the each arch, there is a Japi (a traditional decorated sun shed). Underneath of Japi, one arch is decorated with Historical Panbari Masque and on the other one Historical Mahamaya Dham symbolizing the unity of various religions in the state.

One is equipped with a scene of Bihu Dance; on the other hand another is with a scene of Bhowaia and Satri Nritya indicating the thirst for culture and entertainment. On each of arch is decorated with the head of one-horned rhino, the state animal of Assam.The finance of the arch has been given by the Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Dhubri Mr. Abdul Hamid and is inaugurated on 5th July,2003 by the MP, number of Minister of Assam and District Higher Officials amidst the presence of huge crowd.

CRIME, POLITICS & VOTERS OF ASSAM

The voters of Assam again elected Congress again under the leadership of Tarun Gogoi. But, the most electable fact is the rejection of tainted players from across the party lines. The voters of Assam this time have rejected 87 per cent of the candidates with criminal record in the assembly elections. 13 out of 97 candidates could make their way to the assembly, which is however, six more than the previous assembly elections, as revealed by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW), a nationwide campaign comprising more than 1200 NGOs and other citizen led organizations.

“This time 10 per cent of the total MLAs out of 126 in the house have criminal cases pending against them as per their own declarations,” said Tasaduk Ariful Hussain, coordinator of NEW for Assam.

According to the report, eight MLAs out of the 13 have serious IPC charges like kidnapping and extorting against them. While, there are serious criminal cases pending against eight MLAs.
“All major parties have MLAs with pending criminal cases against them and AIUDF is at the top with six such MLAs out of their 18,” Hussain said.

The winner Congress, who has 78 MLAs, has four such MLAs. While, AGP and BJP have one each in their tally. The only MLA of Trinamool in the state has serious criminal cases pending against him. Rafiqul Islam, Abdur Rahim Khan, Abul Kalam Azad and Ali Hossain of AIUDF, Siddeque Ahmed and Illias Ali of Indian National Congress, Dilip Moran of BJP and Dwipen Pathak of Trinamool have serious criminal cases pending against them, the report revealed.

Meanwhile, the report further disclosed the assets of the MLAs who were newly elected. There are 47 MLAs of the 126 who have assets amounting crores and above which is an apparent rise from the last time. There were just 16 crorepati MLAs during the last assembly election in 2006.

“Sirajuddin Ajmal of AIUDF tops the lists with total assets more than rupees 42 crore and Anjan Dutta of Congress follows next with Rs 10.89 crore,” Hussain said quoting the report.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi who won from Titabar constituency is placed at number nine position with Rs 4.94 crore. AGP who performed poorly this time with just 10 seats, has the highest percentage of crorepatis among their MLAs with 60 per cent. The report also says that Girindra Malik of Indian National Congress from Dholai constituency is the poorest MLA with a total asset of just Rs 53, 377.
Congress has 31 crorepati MLAs which constitute 40 per cent of their total MLAs.

LUMDING, BMB SCHOOL FIELD & CHARAK PUJA:

 

Agricultural land in Lumding

Nagaon is the largest district in Assam and Lumding is the second largest urban settlement. It is a railway township having substantial amounts of Civilian Population. The town is multi-ethnic by nature. Bengali migrants, Assamese Communities, Marwari & Punjabi businessmen, Bihari labour force, Nepali farmers and sustantial percentage of indigeneous tribes like Karbis, Rabhas and Ahoms are the main constituents of the mixed population of Lumding, although more than 70% of the population consists of Hindu Bengali legal migrants who were once brought here by British Raj to work in the Railway services. When these Bengali had settled here, they brought various local festivals along with them. In lumding, the dominant local goddes is the "Ma Shitla Debi" and the 2nd is "Gajan" or "Charak Puja".


CHARAK PUJA:

                                                                                                                                                           

CHARAK PUJA IN THE BMB SCHOOL'S FIELD: IT IS HELD AT THE LAST DAY OF BENGALI YEAR, LAST DAY OF THE MONTH CHOITRA. Normally it is either on 14th or 15th April every year.

Charak Puja is a very enchanting folk festival of Southern Belt of Bangladesh and West Bengal. It is also known as "Nil Puja". The believers of Hindu religion celebrate this on the last day of Chaitra (Chaitra Songkranti). They believe that it will carry prosperity for them eliminating the sorrow and sufferings of the previous year. The festival is actually a festival to satisfy "Lord Shiva", the great "Debadideb" of Hindu Religion. Though the festival takes place on the mid night of Chaitra Songkranti, the preparation phase usually starts before one month of the day. The arrangement team of the festival go from village to village to procure the necessary components like paddy, oil, sugar, salt, honey, money etc. with the arranged and cosmetic Shiva, Parvati, Narod etc. The cosmetic Shiva is locally called "Nil Pagol" or "Jal Katha". On midnight of the Songkranti, the worshippers are gathered together to worship the God and after Puja the "Prosad" is distributed. Somewhere it is also known as "Hajrha Puja". The woman in this day don't take meal before Puja. Sometimes in this festival a human "Charak" is made ready to satisfy the Lord Shiva. The "Charak" is tied with a hook (Borshi) at his back and then he is moved round around a bar with a long rope. Though it is risky, they arrange it.

In Bangladesh it is frequently found to take place at Galachip Upzilla of Patuakhali District. Goalkhali, Gabua, Haridebpur, Lalua, Lohalia etc. villages are well known for "Charak Puja". Though the aristocracy and fluency of the festival is being deemed now, there are some who are arranging it every year with great devotion and dedication. It is a part of their life. May the festival be sustain long.

"A SCENE FROM THE RITUAL PERFORMED DURING CHARAK PUJA IN THE BMB SCHOOL FIELD LUMDING ON THE LAST DAY OF A BENGALI YEAR. THE DAY IS CALLED AS "CHOITRA SANKRANTI" IN BENGALI. CHARAK PUJA IS THE CELEBRATION DEVOTED TO SHIVA-SHAKTI, A RITUAL OF HINDU SHAIVAITES AND SHAKTAS."